Carl Frampton backs Daniel Dubois as ‘the puncher in the fight’ against Oleksandr Usyk in world title clash

Steve Bunce and former world champion Carl Frampton believe that Daniel Dubois can win his world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk next week.

The pair fight in Wroclaw in Poland on Saturday August 26, in an event shown live on TNT Sports Box Office, as the Ukrainian brings his IBF, WBO and WBA titles to put on the line as the incumbent champion and favourite.

As a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, Usyk is respected for his technical prowess but lacks the power of some of the biggest fighters in the division, and Dubois is known for his heavy hands.

Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren has cut a confident figure when it comes to the upcoming bout, and speaking on Friday night on TNT, boxing historian and pundit Bunce does not match Warren’s level of confidence but nevertheless sees a path to victory for the challenger.

He said: “I don’t have the same faith. I can make a case for Dubois winning, don’t get me wrong, but I can make a stronger case – let’s be honest – for Dubois losing. I’ve been around Frank 30-odd years, and he’s always going to back his fighter.

“But there’s a way, and a tone and a look that comes from him. This is how he backed Ricky Hatton against Kostya [Tszyu], when he was a slight underdog. This is how he backed Joe Calzaghe against Jeff Lacy, when [Lacy] was a big favourite.

“There’s something about this, I don’t quite see it, but he sees it so confidently. The first two or three minutes out there with 40,000 Ukrainians that have come across to watch that fight, that’s going to be one of those, and you just look around and suck it in, it’ll be beautiful.”

Bunce added:”He’s got power, but this puncher’s chance thing is great. I don’t think Usyk and his people are stupid enough to think that. But Usyk’s never going to walk along the ropes and be in this bad shape. How about this? Usyk doesn’t like working a lot. The [Anthony] Joshua fight in Saudi Arabia last year, he pushed Usyk a lot, by working, what if Dubois uses his jab?”

Nevertheless, Bunce pointed out flaws in performances against Joe Joyce, when he suffered his first and only professional fight, and also against Kevin Lerena last year when he was dropped several times.

He explained: “He needs to concentrate, he needs to focus. There’s a couple of things about him, in big fights, a lot of bright lights, he hasn’t responded that well. Last year, December 3, Tottenham, 70-80,000 people there, he had a fight that was so winnable, he got caught, hurt, dropped three times in the first round.

“The big one was against Joe Joyce when his head wasn’t on it. He has to make sure the occasion doesn’t get to him. If I see a relaxed Dubois on Friday, that will give me a bit more [confidence]”

Frampton, a former two division champion, had similar thoughts.

He said: “I think the confidence is genuine from [Warren].

“I think Dubois and Don Charles are also confident going into this fight. There is a case to be made that he can win this fight, I think he’s been really unfairly written off. You’ve got to look at what Usyk’s done. He had a couple of fights against [Chazz] Witherspoon, a fight against [Derek] Chisora, and then two fights against a version of Joshua we’re not quite sure about, so the kid has a chance.

“If he uses all his energy up, he really has a chance. I don’t think Usyk is going to knock him out in one single shot. If there’s one who can get knocked out in one single shot, it’s Usyk who can get knocked out by Daniel Dubois, because he’s the puncher in the fight.

“There isn’t really any pressure on him. All those other occasions, Joe Joyce, loads of pressure on him. There’s pressure on you because everyone expects him to win. Nobody expects him to win here except Frank Warren and their own people, but he definitely does have a chance.”

• Usyk v Dubois is a pay-per-view fight (PPV) and can be watched through BT TV, Virgin TV and Sky or online via the web or the TNT Sports Box Office App. You do not need to be a TNT Sports subscriber to buy this event.
• Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View Live Events rail
• BT TV customers can go to channel 494 and pay using their remote control.
• Viewers wanting to watch the fight online should visit www.tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice and follow instructions to subscribe and watch on the web or on the TNT Sports Box Office App, customers can choose to watch on the big screen using Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay. EE, Three, Vodafone and O2 customers watching online or via the TNT Sports Box Office App can choose to add the payment to their mobile bill.
• Sky customers can purchase TNT Sports Box Office on channel 490 via their remote control or via https://www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt